


Valentine's Game

by loveyoutoobits (lostflares)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, F/M, Meet-Cute, NHL!Chowder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 12:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17745761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostflares/pseuds/loveyoutoobits
Summary: Caitlin is in New York, ill prepared for the cold weather and just a bit lost, in the week of Valentine's Day. Enter the hottest guy she had ever seen.





	Valentine's Game

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for brain-patterns over on tumblr! Hope you like it~ I'm glad you asked for Charmer, I really love writing them :3

Caitlin stood in the middle of New York City, unsure of which way to turn. She’d only been in New York for a couple days, but, despite the numbering system, she had no clue if she should go up or down or left or right. She was outside Penn station, she knew that much. Her phone was dead, unable to pull up google maps, and she knew better than to waste her money on a New York taxi. But the later it got, the colder it got, and she had never bought a heavy winter coat; she was too used to the California sunshine even in San Francisco. She should’ve known her job would take her places with different weather, but February is usually the end of winter out west, not the middle of it.

She shivered for the umpteenth time, looking left and right, trying to remember how to get back to her hotel from where she was. She made a note to herself to buy a coat and a scarf while she was here, cursing the wind that blew her hair off her neck and the below-freezing temperatures that had plagued her entire trip. Caitlin only ever got below freezing in California once or twice a winter. Never for an entire week, which was what the forecast for her trip looked like.

Another gust of wind blew and she hunched down, trying to keep the collar of her too-thin coat high while keeping her hands shoved deep into her pockets. She chewed on her lip, bouncing on her heels, trying to make the decision to move from the corner one way or the other. Taking a deep breath, she decided to go whichever way the light changed, and hope for the best. She stepped forward, and immediately got run into by someone. She hadn’t been paying attention to people as much as she probably should’ve, with how crowded New York was.

Whoever it was had knocked her over, and she was about to be indignant that it was a hit and run situation, when she looked up to a hand in her face. She blinked at it a few times, before looking at the face attached, catching her breath. The man staring down at her was simply gorgeous, right down to his nervous smile. A nice looking man in a nice looking suit and a nice, warm looking jacket was standing over her, and Caitlin was finding it hard to breathe a little.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going and then suddenly there was a person there--a person who was you-- and I definitely couldn’t stop in time but oh man are you alright?” He rambled, and she finally managed to remember to both breathe and take his hand. He helped her to her feet, and Caitlin almost forgot to answer him, she was too busy staring at his face.

“Oh-- no worries. I was the one not paying attention. I’ll be honest, I’m a little lost, and had just made the decision to move… right into you. So I’m the one who should be sorry!” Caitlin rambled a bit, but she couldn’t help it, she didn’t want to make this man just disappear from her life like that without even knowing his name.

“Oh, where are you trying to go? I’m not too well versed in New York, but maybe we’re going in the same direction and I can help you at least somewhat!” He smiled wide, and it made Caitlin’s heart flutter. She hoped that they were going in the same direction, because being near him made her warm.

“I’m trying to get back to my hotel… it’s on 35th street? Um, I couldn’t decide where to turn to go there.” Caitlin pointed at the street sign that said 31st street, and she chewed on her lip again, deciding that she definitely was about to turn the wrong way.

“Oh yeah, my hotel is over there too! Maybe we’re at the same one.” Hot Guy checked his watch, glancing at Caitlin briefly, then over his shoulder at Penn Station. “You know, I’ve got some time to kill, I could walk you over?”

“Oh you don’t have to, if you have somewhere else to be?” Caitlin was disappointed in herself for saying no, but she knew that she couldn’t force someone to hold her hand and walk her through the streets (though she sure would like to hold his hand).

“No no, don’t worry, it’s the least that I can do!” He held out his hand again, and Caitlin looked down at it, still thinking about holding his hand, before she realized that it must be for a handshake. “I’m Chris by the way.”

“Caitlin,” she smiled as she shook his hand, and he smiled back wider. Caitlin could feel the heart eyes just oozing out of her, but she quickly took her hand back, thanking the gust of wind for the excuse to let go no matter how much she wanted to hold on. She shivered again, despite how warm she felt standing next to Chris.

Chris noticed the shiver. And he looked absolutely mortified, either in her choice of coat or his own manners, Caitlin couldn’t be sure. “Oh you must be freezing in that coat! You’re definitely not from around here, I’m guessing?”

Caitlin’s teeth were chattering, so she only shook her head. Chris started to take his jacket off, and Caitlin shook her head harder. “I-I c-couldn’t t-take y-your j-jacket. Y-you n-need i-it t-too.”

Chris only shook his head, draping his jacket on her shoulders. The warmth the jacket gave was in part from it’s own makeup but also in part to Chris’s body heat, and Caitlin pulled it in tight, breathing in his scent sneakily as she did so. He smelled like home. Not that she was imagining him as home, but that he smelled a bit like California.

“Come on Caitlin, let’s get you to your hotel. I definitely can’t let you go off alone if you are that cold.” He put a hand on her elbow, a light touch, simply used as a guiding hand, and Caitlin didn’t pull away. They walked in silence until they were on the other side of Penn station, and Chris looked at the building with an almost guilty look.

“If you need to be somewhere else, Chris, I shouldn’t be keeping you.” Caitlin chewed on her lip, reaching up to pull the jacket off to give back, but Chris stopped her hand.

“No, the guys will understand. I can’t leave you alone.” They walked past Penn station, and Chris breathed what sounded like a sigh of relief to Caitlin.

A few more steps of silence, and it seemed like Chris couldn’t take it anymore, clearing his throat a couple of times, with a glance in Caitlin’s direction. “So, Caitlin? Where are you from? If not New York or the East coast where winter coats are the norm.”

“I’m actually from California. I’m here on a business trip until Friday,” Caitlin said.

“You were going to be here for an entire week with that coat? It’s the middle of February!” Chris was incredulous, and Caitlin shot him a shameful look.

“I was going to buy a jacket tomorrow!”

Chris laughed, a clear, beautiful, joyful laugh, and Caitlin’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t believed in love at first sight until meeting Chris, and she knew that was irrevocably screwed.

“But still, you’re also from California! That’s crazy. What are the odds? We must be the only two true Californians in all of New York.” Chris smiled widely, and Caitlin definitely didn’t miss the implication.

“Oh, where in California are you from?” She was hoping it was northern California. She was tired of everyone talking about LA and assuming that was all that California was.

“I’m originally from San Francisco, but I live in San Jose now for work.” He winked, though she couldn’t fathom why.

“Oh, that’s awesome! I live and work in San Francisco, but I travel a lot.”

Chris laughed again, that beautiful laugh, though it was like he was laughing at inside joke with himself. “I travel a lot too. Half the time, I’m on the road.”

They chat mundanely about San Francisco, about things they might’ve done at the same before he moved down to San Jose. They reached 35th street, and Caitlin told him her hotel, and he turned right, walking her to the front of the building. Caitlin didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, but she knew that she was keeping him from something important.

“You know, it must suck to be in New York far from home on Valentine’s day,” Chris said.

“Oh, it’s not so bad, not like there was anything for me to do. I don’t even have any meetings that day.” Caitlin was hinting heavily, though Chris wasn’t taking the hint.

“In that case, you should definitely go see the hockey game! It’s the Sharks vs. the Rangers. It should be a real good one.” He winked again, and Caitlin definitely had no idea why.

“Maybe I will.” She moved to take off the jacket to give back, but Chris held up a hand and shook his head.

“Give it to me the next time. Plus, in the pocket is a bit of a gift.” He smiled widely, before turning to leave with a small wave. Caitlin waved to his back, watching him walk back the way they came. Watching until he turned the corner and was out of sight.

* * *

 

She got up to her room, shaking her head at the odd interaction. Chris’s jacket stilled smelled like him, and she took a deep breath now that he could no longer see her. He didn’t ask her out, despite asking about Valentine’s day, but she didn’t think she would be that lucky, even if he had been the man of her dreams.

She opened her laptop and looked up the hockey game. It was on Valentine’s day, and it was a matinee game, starting at 1. She hadn’t had any plans that day, so a hockey game would at least be something. She checked the ticket prices, and decided that, maybe it wouldn’t be anything. Madison Square Garden is far too expensive.

Caitlin laid on her bed, still wearing Chris’s jacket, staring up at the ceiling. She put her hands in the pockets, and felt something in one of them. She remembered what Chris had said, that there was a bit of a gift in the pocket. She pulled it out now, bringing it up to her face, only to be face to face with a ticket to the Valentine’s day hockey game. Imagine that.

She thought that maybe this was his way of asking her out. Maybe he had a ticket in the seat next to hers, and he had an extra, and he gave it to her. Caitlin smiled widely. Maybe Chris was just shy! She would see him at the game if she went, and it’s a date that she agrees to and they both cheer on the Sharks from seats in New York!

But the horrible thought that crossed her mind was, what if he cheered for the Rangers, despite being from California and living in San Jose? She wracked her mind over and over again, before deciding that she would just go to the game in plain clothes, and hope that Chris would be there so she could give back the jacket. And she would cheer on the Sharks no matter what, because hometown loyalty is bigger than trying to suck up to the guy she likes. Even if she’s never watched a Sharks game in her life.

* * *

On Valentine’s day each year, Caitlin usually wears red, white, pink, the usual, cliche colors of Valentine’s day. That day, she paired it with her brand new teal jacket, that she had bought for warmth and for the hockey game. She needed to have something to represent, right?

She walked the way to Madison Square Garden, hoping that Chris would be there. She looked at the ticket for the umpteenth time, amazed at how close the seats were. She had looked up where her seat was, and it was on the visiting side’s goalie net. An odd location, but for her first hockey game, Caitlin wasn’t about to complain.

The line was long to get into the building, and she didn’t see Chris anywhere. She was beginning to think that maybe he had the ticket but couldn’t go to the game so he gave it to her and she had fooled herself into thinking it was going to be date. She had styled her hair and her outfit for nothing. She shouldn’t have come to a game she knew nothing about.

She stayed in line. She already had the ticket, and she was holding on to the hope that maybe Chris would be there. She had his jacket folded over her arm. It had stopped smelling like him and more like her the longer she had worn it, so she had finally bought her own jacket to preserve what little of him was left. Yes, she knew that was a bit creepy. No one else except herself was going to know though.

She finally got into the building, and found her way to her seat. The people on either side of her were already there, and she tried to hide her disappointment. Chris wasn’t there after all. She shrugged, and turned her attention to the ice, as warmups got started. The Sharks came out to her side of the ice and began.

Caitlin had never watched hockey in her life. She knew nothing about the players. But, as the game progressed, it was the most fun she had ever had. The Sharks won, 3-0, and Caitlin felt like she had been the only Sharks fan in the audience, but she didn’t care. At times, she had noticed the goalie looking her way when he was at her end of the ice, and he seemed familiar, though she couldn’t pick why. When the game ended, she stood outside the arena, still buzzing from the excitement. She was looking up places to go for dinner, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Behind her stood Chris. He was a bit out of breath, his hair was wet with sweat, and he had hastily put on his suit, but he was smiling from ear to ear.

“Caitlin! You actually came! I was really worried you wouldn’t since I thought, maybe you wouldn’t see the ticket, or if you did, you wouldn’t want to go to the game, or maybe you didn’t like me as much as I liked you and so there was no point for you to go to the game and-- oops.” Chris covered his mouth, and Caitlin knew how gone she was.

“Chris? I didn’t see you at all! Why are you all out of breath and sweaty?”

“I-- Caitlin, have you ever watched hockey before?”

“No, this was my first game.” Caitlin gave a sheepish smile. “I thought, that maybe, this was going to be a date? But you weren’t there where I was sitting… but you were here?”

Chris laughed, harder than he had laughed before, so full of joy and happiness. He stopped suddenly, hitting himself in the forehead with his hand. “Oh man no wonder you looked so confused yesterday when I was talking to you. You didn’t know who I was at all! I thought you were starstruck but clearly you weren’t!”

Caitlin was offended, but before she could say anything Chris stopped her. “No, listen! It’s a really funny story. You see, my whole name is Chris Chow. I am the goalie for the San Jose Sharks.”

And Caitlin understood, in that moment, what all the winking was about, and just about everything else that had made no sense to her.

“That… explains so much.” Caitlin shook her head, but she was smiling all the same.

“I do have just one question… why did you seem so starstruck when we first met? It was the first time I’d met someone in another state who really seemed to like me, but since you didn’t know about hockey?”

“Oh, well...” Caitlin blushed, looking down at her hands, still holding onto his jacket. “I thought that you were the most beautiful man I had ever seen and I kind of fell in love with you?”

“Oh.” It was Chris’s turn to blush. “Well… in that case… do you want to get dinner tonight?”

“What, like a date?” Caitlin didn’t think she heard right, but she hoped to god that she had.

“Yeah, like a date.” Chris smiled shyly, and Caitlin matched it.

“Yeah, dinner sounds great.”

“Awesome! Let me just go get my things and I’ll meet you right here, ok?” Chris turned to leave, probably back to the locker room, before he remembered something. “But first, can I get my jacket back? New York is way too cold.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave kudos and comments~


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